MMA Odds: Joe Soto vs. Joe Warren

Joe Soto and Joe Warren will clash on Bodog’s MMA odds this week as the third season of the Bellator Fighting Championship continues with a featherweight championship match.

Despite entering as the challenger, Warren is the narrow favorite with -130 odds. He’s appeared in just six career mixed martial arts matches, winning five of them. One victory came via knockout, but don’t expect Warren to be standing up boxing -- he’s an expert wrestler. Warren earned gold medals as a Greco-Roman wrestler at the 2006 Pan-Am Games and the World Championship, and he was a favorite at the Olympics that year before testing positive for THC -- a by-product of using marijuana (Warren claimed he was using it for medicinal purposes).

The American made his MMA debut in March 2009, when he earned a TKO (a doctor’s stoppage) over Chase Beebe. Warren’s lone career loss came to Brazilian Bibiano Fernandes courtesy of a first-round arm bar. Since then, Warren has won three straight fights, although his most recent victory -- over Brazilian Patricio Freire in June -- was a split decision.

Although he doesn’t have the same pedigree on the mat, Soto (even odds) also has a wrestling background. The champ went to Iowa Central Community College where he wrestled (and shared a room) with rising UFC star Jon Jones. “The Hammer” won his first four fights before being picked up by Bellator. The winning ways have continued, largely thanks to a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Soto’s record now stands at 9-0. His most recent win came in May, a TKO (doctor’s stoppage) over Brazilian Diego Saraiva. Of Soto’s nine wins, four have come via knockout and another four by submission. He certainly has a much broader arsenal of tricks than Warren brings to the table.

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